Dove is no stranger to disrupting the environment. This time it’s no different. The beauty brand has launched its latest social media campaign in support of Canadian news anchor, Lisa LaFlamme, who lost her job over her refusal to dye her grey hair.

Developed by Dove’s Canadian agency Edelman, the campaign was a quick response and social media lead. Dove Canada leveraged its inactive Twitter channel, which hadn’t seen activity since 20178. The campaign is simple, calling on women to turn a grey scale on their profile pictures in an effort to #KeepTheGrey.

Age is beautiful. Women should be able to do it on their own terms, without any consequences 👩🏼‍🦳👩🏾‍🦳Dove is donating $100,000 to Catalyst, a Canadian organization helping build inclusive workplaces for all women. Go grey with us, turn your profile picture greyscale and #KeepTheGrey pic.twitter.com/SW5X93r4Qj

— Dove Canada (@DoveCanada) August 21, 2022

Grey hair and ageism in beauty

The beauty industry is one of the most steeped in controversy. From editing images to an unrealistic beauty standard, to the ongoing problems with ageism, Dove felt like the perfect brand to fight LaFlamme’s dismissal. The campaign debuted one week after LaFlamme got removed from her post on CTV National News anchor chair. The newsreader was 58 years old. During the pandemic, LaFlamme made the decision to keep her grey locks, and this was seen as a defining factor that saw her unfair dismissal. 

Dove’s head of marketing in the beauty and wellbeing division Leslie Golts spoke about ageism. “There’s a lot of discussion about ageism right now. We wanted to harness that energy for good,” says Golts. 

“We saw an opportunity right now because it’s being talked about. It’s critical. If it’s not being talked about, change doesn’t happen.”

Ongoing support

On Twitter, the brand saw support coming through. Sports Illustrated changed its profile picture. It also pointed out that its latest cover star is 50 year old Maye Musk. 

The brand isn’t stopping at the social media post. Dove has promised to donate $100,000 CAD to Catalyst, a non-profit committed to building workplaces that work for women.

We’re going grey with @Dove in support of women aging confidently on their own terms. We were so proud to feature @mayemusk on our May ’22 swimsuit cover – living proof that beauty only gets better with age. #KeepTheGrey https://t.co/I2YHbonELn pic.twitter.com/oIcJ36JKkE

— Sports Illustrated Swimsuit (@SI_Swimsuit) August 25, 2022